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Here I have a few sentences with seemingly obscure usages of という appearing after the こそ and は particles.

Firstly, while watching からかい上手の高木さん I came across this particular sentence in Ep. 3 @11:22:

この苦しみを噛み締めながら次こそはという意識を高めるのだ
Translation Attempt: While I digest this pain I'll increase my awareness for next time.

Context: 西片 is enforcing a punishment on himself because he is getting teased by 高木 all day, every day. In this scene where he says this line, he's doing push-ups (the aforementioned punishment).

After attempting to research this usage, the only things I could find were sentences from a youtube subtitle database that all seemed to start the same with「我こそは」such as:

我こそはという方はぜひお願いいたします
https://youtu.be/zLKYvB_HfWg @1:46

我こそはという半導体関係であったり電子部品の会社であったり
https://youtu.be/ewKRCv9g_RQ @43:04

Is this merely a rare usage of という? If so, what is the purpose? Is it adding emphasis? Or could it be that 「こそはという」is some sort of set expression that has a particular meaning? I'm aware that という will not translate easy, but any further elaboration on the translation of the first sentence I provided, in order to show the function that という is performing, would be wonderful. Also, do let me know if I need to provide any further details or context.

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  • Related: In the clause われこそはと心驕りしていられる方々からは, ... what does the と mean?
    – aguijonazo
    Apr 5 at 16:55
  • That does help a lot towards the understanding of all of this. However, within that link, none of the sentences include いう after the と. What are the implications that come along with having という rather than just と in particular contexts such as these?
    – levikara
    Apr 5 at 17:12
  • Does this, or the questions linked from it, help? What does「という」do in「という方」?
    – aguijonazo
    Apr 5 at 17:17
  • I don't believe so. To be honest, there are too many words and a few grammatical things that I do not understand within that post for me to fully comprehend it as of yet. Also, the linked info within that reference and even the sentences in the answer to the post itself does not seem to have という being used in the same way; 助詞(は)＋という. However I might still be a bit too ignorant when it comes to Japanese in order to know whether it contains the info or not. My apologies if so.
    – levikara
    Apr 5 at 17:37
  • After having looked into it more and going through some of those resources a bit longer, I figure: 我こそはという方はぜひお願いいたします means something like, “People ‘that say’ it is me, please (do).” However I still can’t make sense of the 次こそはという意識 where it seems like it’s saying, “awareness saying for precisely next time”. Could the という have a different meaning here where it’s understood as, “awareness that is/in which is for next time”?
    – levikara
    Apr 5 at 21:55

1 Answer 1

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There is nothing rare about this という. You should read it as 「次こそは」という意識. It appears to follow a particle only because the quotation it follows happens to end with one. 次こそは is not a complete sentence, of course. You could make it complete by adding something like 成功する or うまくやる if you want to, but it’s not necessary because 次こそは alone is understood as a declaration of the person’s determination to do something better next time around.

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  • Ah, I think I understand a bit better with that explanation on the 次こそは. Still, it seems strange to me and I’m not sure how the という part would translate into English exactly. “Awareness in which / where I’ll do better next time.” Perhaps?
    – levikara
    Apr 8 at 1:43
  • @levikara - Then I would have to doubt your claim that you “generally understand という”. This いう is indeed from 言う but it doesn’t always mean someone actually “says” the quoted words. 「次こそは」という modifies 意識 as a “content” clause of sorts. It describes or characterizes what this 意識 is like. In English you might say something like “an I-will-do-it-right-next-time mentality.”
    – aguijonazo
    Apr 8 at 2:26
  • I get that it doesn’t literally mean “to say” in all contexts. I’m just going off of bi-lingual definitions for each piece of the dialogue. Where 次 (next time), こそは (it’s precisely), 意識 (conscious, becoming aware of). Without looking at 次こそは as an expression of sorts to mean “to try to do better next time” it doesn’t make sense to my mind that is used to English. Before your answer, my mind was previously thinking of it like this: “It is precisely next time という become aware.” which makes no sense. But, “doing better next time という become aware” makes more sense.
    – levikara
    Apr 8 at 3:28
  • @levikara - I commented because you were still saying "it seems strange to me and I'm not sure..." after you read my answer. I answered only about the part I thought was still causing you trouble based on what you said to me after reading the links I gave you. I thought your last doubt before my answer was about いう coming after a particle.
    – aguijonazo
    Apr 8 at 4:00
  • That’s totally fine, it’s sort of hard to communicate all of this by typing it out. My apologies for any miscommunication. If anything, I went back to a grammar guide to see こそ and it’s function with temporal nouns and it actually sort of seems that was actually more of what was tripping me up. Without having asked this question I’m not sure I would have figured that out. With that said I appreciate your time, it’s helped a lot. Thanks.
    – levikara
    Apr 8 at 4:13

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